Japan Horse Breeders Aided By Closed Market
As the Japanese, armed with a strong yen, began to buy stallion prospects from the United States and Europe, they were regarded as easy marks by the world's horse owners.
In the late 1980s, the U.S. thoroughbred market had crashed and ...and the Japanese were the Japanese able to acquire the brilliant Sunday Silence in 1990.
By any standards, Japanese racing is a powerhouse. The money bet on races here annually is more than double the sum wagered in the United States.Yet outsiders can do little more than envy the Japanese racing scene. For the most part, they can't be part of it. Unlike all other major racing nations, Japan bars participation by foreigners.
"Foreign-bred horses can compete in 55 percent of the races. Foreign-trained horses can run in 85 stakes races; we are gradually increasing that number. But no outsider can operate a full-fledged racing stable here."
Nor do foreigners operate major breeding farms. The Japanese breeding industry resembles a small private club, with the Yoshida family, which operates Shadai Farm, dominating the business; it owned Sunday Silence and owns most of the top stallions, as well some 3,000 mares.
The exclusionary policies are blatantly unfair. It's a race closed to foreigners.
"But the market is closed to outsiders", I don't know, where have I heard this someplace else before?
Here again it just seems to be a case of getting on the right Yak list to me.
